I got up about 5:30 am. Went to the computer to check for messages and learn about the slum walk sponsored by the Salaam Baalak Trust. You can read about it at Salaambaalakgtrust.com. They have been helping street children in India since 1968...food, security, health, love, education, a place to play and dream. Today there are nine centers in Delhi..3 for boys and 2 for girls. Through their Help Line, over 5000 children have been returned home and they provide services to over 50,000 children. Only 10% of the funds come from the government. 40% comes from donations. 50% comes from corporate sponsors and fundraising. Tour guides are young people who were rescued off the street by the program.
The tour starts at 10 am at the Railway Reservation Office. I left Eli's place at 8:30 am. Tuk Tuk to the Metro. Metro to New Delhi Station..14 stops.. At the New Delhi Station, I hired a Tuk Tuk to take me to the Railway Reservation Office. When I got dropped off, I wasn't sure I was at the right place. I did not see any group of people standing around. I must of looked like I was lost. A man pointed across the street and I saw two other foreigners standing there. I joined them and confirmed that they also were there for a Slum Tour. They are a British couple from London visiting a friend for a few days that works at the Embassy.
After 10 minutes, a group of 8 people joined us and two tour guides wearing blue T-shirts with Salaam Baalak Trust on the back side came. The tour guides introduced themselves. The group of 8 people were a group of friends, so one tour guide took that group. The other tour guide Shivram became the tour guide for the rest of us 10 people. He explained that Salaam Baalak means Salute to the Child's Spirit.
Most street children ran away from home...boys leave because of .physical or sexual abuse, poverty, TV programs showing a better life in a big city. Girls leave because of abuse, poverty.. no dowry. Indian culture says you.need a dowry for the boy's family before a boy will marry you...desire to find a better life in the big city.
When girls arrive in Delhi, brokers find them and sell them as prostitutes. ..10 to 15 customers a day. They get to keep 25% of their money. The rest goes for housing and the broker.
Boys earn money recycling plastic bottles and cardboard found off the street, wash cars, doing odd jobs.
There is no safe place to keep their money, so much of it is stolen. They must spend it. Free food is available from charities, so they spend their money on drugs and entertainment..movie theaters.
We walk across the busy street carefully and go upstairs to the an office where children can come from 10 am to 2 pm daily to play board games on the floor and get a meal. They are also assessed for any other needs...clothing, health...and encouraged to join a group home. Most boys fear losing their freedom so they choose to stay on the street. Today there are four boys on a mat on the floor playing board games. The entrance to the room is through an iron gate. The next room is the office area with two women busy doing administrative work. We fill out a registration form giving our name and home address for their records. There are photos on the wall about the programs available.
Next we walk back across the busy street into a narrow dirt street. Sights and smells. I must stay close so I do not get separated from the group. We walk past an open room with a group of people chanting and worshiping...a temple. I see a tangled mass of electrical wires hanging above our heads that run along down street to a pole at the end of the street. Laundry hanging on balconies. Small shops about 10 feet wide on both sides of the street. Vendors cooking and selling food. A goat sleeping in front of one shop. Dogs sleeping. People coming and going. We make a turn into an even narrower street..maybe six feet wide ...room for two people to walk. We stop and Shivram asks how old a building is. The person with the correct answer gets a candy bar. Guesses run from 1000 years old to 100 years old. It is only 75 years old. It is in very poor condition. Brick building with plaster which is peeling off and cracked. Then he asks why there are tiles with images of Hindi gods inlaid into the side of a building. Building owner wanted people to stop urinating on the building. People will not urinate there while a God is watching them.
Next we meet a shop owner that buys recycled bottles and cardboard. Street children come to him to sell what they find on the street. A person can earn 200 rupies a day if you work hard. It is good to help clean up the street, but there is no future in it.
Then we walk through another maze of streets into an alley and up a flight of stairs. A man is guarding an iron gate. We enter a room with a stack of mattresses...bedroom for 40 boys. We enter their classroom. The alphabet is painted around two of the walls in Hindi language and English. The boys are waiting for us. A different tour group comes to visit them every day except Sunday. We are invited to mingle with the boys and talk with them. Some kids want to play a clapping game with their hands. Clap their hands against our hands. Clap our hands together, then clap one hand at a time, then both hands . Another child has made a paper airplane. We take photos, so I have photos to share with you later.
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Next we meet inside a small room on benches. Shivram shares his life story. He ran away from home at age eight and took the train from Agra to Delhi without paying for it. He lived off the street for three months before someone from the program found him and took him in. The program helped him reunite with his parents. After a few years, he came back to Delhi to get an education and learn to speak English. Now he is 17 years old and thinking about applying to a college in America. Being a Tour Guide has helped him gain confidence in himself.
He gives us brochures about Salaam Baalak Trust and invites us to help. There is a large box with a small hole in it for tips for the tour guides. We can buy a blue T shirt for 50 rupies. I buy one. We are guided into another room where we pay for the tour...I donate 200 rupies.
The British couple offers to have their driver from the Embassy drop me off at the Metro station. What a blessing. I get into the car with them and I am dropped off at the Rajiv Chowk Metro station.
I ride the Metro back to the Sikanderpur Station...18 stops and walk over to Mega Mall to look around. I find Spencers in the lower floor. It is almost like a miniature Walmart. Groceries with appliances and clothing. I browse throurgh the store and buy flax seed and ramen type noodles. I walk up the street looking for McDonald's, but I don't find it.
So I hire a Tuk Tuk to get back to Eli's...70 rupies. I'm glad to be back in air conditioning. I feel hot and sweaty. Shower and ramen noodles with leftover Dal for lunch. Nap time. Computer time after I wake up. Then bed time. Good Night.
After 10 minutes, a group of 8 people joined us and two tour guides wearing blue T-shirts with Salaam Baalak Trust on the back side came. The tour guides introduced themselves. The group of 8 people were a group of friends, so one tour guide took that group. The other tour guide Shivram became the tour guide for the rest of us 10 people. He explained that Salaam Baalak means Salute to the Child's Spirit.
Most street children ran away from home...boys leave because of .physical or sexual abuse, poverty, TV programs showing a better life in a big city. Girls leave because of abuse, poverty.. no dowry. Indian culture says you.need a dowry for the boy's family before a boy will marry you...desire to find a better life in the big city.
When girls arrive in Delhi, brokers find them and sell them as prostitutes. ..10 to 15 customers a day. They get to keep 25% of their money. The rest goes for housing and the broker.
Boys earn money recycling plastic bottles and cardboard found off the street, wash cars, doing odd jobs.
There is no safe place to keep their money, so much of it is stolen. They must spend it. Free food is available from charities, so they spend their money on drugs and entertainment..movie theaters.
We walk across the busy street carefully and go upstairs to the an office where children can come from 10 am to 2 pm daily to play board games on the floor and get a meal. They are also assessed for any other needs...clothing, health...and encouraged to join a group home. Most boys fear losing their freedom so they choose to stay on the street. Today there are four boys on a mat on the floor playing board games. The entrance to the room is through an iron gate. The next room is the office area with two women busy doing administrative work. We fill out a registration form giving our name and home address for their records. There are photos on the wall about the programs available.
Next we meet a shop owner that buys recycled bottles and cardboard. Street children come to him to sell what they find on the street. A person can earn 200 rupies a day if you work hard. It is good to help clean up the street, but there is no future in it.Then we walk through another maze of streets into an alley and up a flight of stairs. A man is guarding an iron gate. We enter a room with a stack of mattresses...bedroom for 40 boys. We enter their classroom. The alphabet is painted around two of the walls in Hindi language and English. The boys are waiting for us. A different tour group comes to visit them every day except Sunday. We are invited to mingle with the boys and talk with them. Some kids want to play a clapping game with their hands. Clap their hands against our hands. Clap our hands together, then clap one hand at a time, then both hands . Another child has made a paper airplane. We take photos, so I have photos to share with you later.
He gives us brochures about Salaam Baalak Trust and invites us to help. There is a large box with a small hole in it for tips for the tour guides. We can buy a blue T shirt for 50 rupies. I buy one. We are guided into another room where we pay for the tour...I donate 200 rupies.
The British couple offers to have their driver from the Embassy drop me off at the Metro station. What a blessing. I get into the car with them and I am dropped off at the Rajiv Chowk Metro station.
I ride the Metro back to the Sikanderpur Station...18 stops and walk over to Mega Mall to look around. I find Spencers in the lower floor. It is almost like a miniature Walmart. Groceries with appliances and clothing. I browse throurgh the store and buy flax seed and ramen type noodles. I walk up the street looking for McDonald's, but I don't find it.
So I hire a Tuk Tuk to get back to Eli's...70 rupies. I'm glad to be back in air conditioning. I feel hot and sweaty. Shower and ramen noodles with leftover Dal for lunch. Nap time. Computer time after I wake up. Then bed time. Good Night.
